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Eurofighter Typhoon is large, expensive, relatively unmaneuverable, and hard to maintain to get many sorties per week, Pierre Sprey, designer of the F-16, F-15, and defense analyst, told RT. The German Air Force has uncovered serious manufacturing defects in the fuselage of the Eurofighter Typhoon multirole fighter jet. The jet is not ready for armed conflict, according to the German Defense Ministry which ordered to reduce annual flying hours for each aircraft due to the fuselage possibly becoming unstable. RT: Defense contractors are reportedly eyeing lucrative contracts now that the military campaign in Iraq and Syria has been launched. Do...

UAE fighter pilot Mariam al-Mansouri shot to fame last week for her role in a US-led bombing campaign in Syria. While Americans hailed her pluck, for Arabs it's more complicated. JERUSALEM — Last week Mariam al-Mansouri, a F-16 pilot from the United Arab Emirates, was introduced to the world. Smiling out from under her helmet and hijab after launching air strikes in Syria, part of a US-led campaign against Islamic State, her image went viral. For some Americans, she was a sort of Katharine Hepburn meets Amelia Earhart who had shattered prevalent stereotypes of Arab women. A popular Internet meme...

Poland kicks off major military exercises involving eight NATO partners on Wednesday amid the West's worst standoff with Russia since the end of the Cold War sparked by differences over the Ukraine crisis. Organised every two years since 2006, this year's Anaconda manoeuvres involve 12,500 soldiers, with 750 from NATO members the US and Britain among others, the Polish defence ministry said, adding the event "has become a permanent training element of the North Atlantic alliance". The exercises are designed to coordinate cooperation with NATO's rapid reaction forces, created at the alliance's Cardiff summit earlier this month. They also come...

In August last year we analyzed the reasons for the possible Polish purchase of the Lockheed Martin AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-off Missiles (JASSM). Now, in the light of the Ukrainian crisis, a contextual change has occurred and the deal seems to be closed-up soon.Nevertheless, there are still some unaswered questions. The latest development about the Polish air-launched cruise missiles deal started with the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DCSA) and the US State Department giving consent for the Polish procurement of the JASSMs in their AGM-158A variant, along with a modernization bundle for the Polish Air ForceÂ’s F-16C/D Block 52+ jet...

The Pentagon is asking Congress to approve a $500 million foreign military sale to deliver Lockheed Martin Corp. missiles for Poland’s fleet of F-16 fighters. Poland is asking for 40 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles, which are designed to cruise autonomously using an infrared seeker and anti-jam GPS to find and destroy targets, keeping aircrews well out of danger from air defense systems. Also part of the contract would be upgrades to the F-16 aircraft for JASSM integration and support. Poland continues to be an important force for political stability and economic progress in Central Europe, and the sale would improve...

Although they are two different airframes, the F-15 and the F-18 have similar avionics, as you can read in the following interesting story released by an experienced Eagle driver. Disclaimer: the story is based on an interview to an F-15, published on a magazine profiling the F/A-18 Hornet. Developed as a multirole naval fighter, the McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet has become the backbone of the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps and several air arms around the world. Among them there is also the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), formerly known as Canadian Forces Air Command, that began...

The Israeli air force is developing a short field operating capability for its Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters, based on the use of a rocket-assisted take-off. A first test is scheduled for next year, with the air force having decided to develop such a system for its F-16A/B, C/D and I-model variants. Rocket assistance can be used by some military transports to provide additional thrust when an aircraft is heavy or a runway is short. As part of the new plan, rockets will be placed under the wing of the F-16 and released after they have burned out. Close attention will...

COLORADO – Two F-16 fighter jets under the direction of North American Aerospace Defense Command assisted the FAA today with an unresponsive general aviation aircraft. The aircraft took off from Waukesha Airport in Wisconsin and was on its way to Manassas Airport in Virginia when it crashed into the Atlantic ocean, approximately 140 NM SW of Washington, DC. (snip)

A question for the aviation buffs on this forum. I was told at one time, that the F-16 was an inherently unstable aircraft, and that without assistance from it computers, no human pilot would be able to fly the aircraft. Then I saw this video, (see link below), of a quarter scale, radio controlled F-16, in the colors of the Royal Dutch Air Force demonstration team. I would think that there is not enough room in the model or money in the owner’s bank account to include flight control computers. So my question is; “How is the unstable F-16 model...

Lockheed Martin (LM) and BAE Systems reported progress this month on their rival upgrades for F-16 Fighting Falcons. Two aircraft from each company’s launch customer (Taiwan for LM, South Korea for BAE) are now in rework, ironically just a few miles from each other in Fort Worth, Texas. Meanwhile, the ferry of Iraq’s first two new Block 52 aircraft in September is looking unlikely. Bill McHenry, LM’s F-16 program director, said that the F-16V upgrade design review is complete, Elbit has delivered some of the new cockpit displays, and Northrop Grumman is slated to deliver the first scaleable agile beam...

The Iraqi Air Force can list a fighter aircraft in the inventory for the first time in more than a decade on 5 June with the delivery of the first of 36 Lockheed Martin F-16IQ Block 52 aircraft on order. Iraqi ambassador Lukman Faily formally received the two-seat, Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229-powered F-16IQ during a ceremony at Lockheed’s factory in Fort Worth, Texas, becoming the 28th country to take delivery of a the 40-year-old F-16. As the first of six two-seat F-16Ds on order – along with 30 single-seat F-16Cs – the aircraft was delivered with a full load of...

If Israel really wants to bomb Iran's nuclear sites, maybe it better do that in the next three months - because in September the United States will start sending Iraq F-16s to build its Air Force. Except for some helicopters and small planes, Iraq has not had an air force since the United States buried it in 2003. Until the United States withdrew from Iraq two years ago, the US Air Force protected the skies of Iraq. But for now, the sky is open for Israeli jets to fly back and forth over Iraq if they choose. To strike Iran,...

The United States is sending a dozen F-16 fighter jets to Poland as a part of a training exercise, amid continuing tensions between Ukraine and Russia, the Polish defence ministry said on Sunday. Three hundred US service personnel will also be sent to Poland as part of the exercise. The deployment will be completed by Thursday. Chuck Hagel, the US Secretary of State for Defence, and his Polish counterpart Tomasz Siemoniak agreed the deployment during a phone call, according to a statement from the Polish ministry. "The unit will be composed of 12 F-16 planes and will transport 300 soldiers,"...

The Pakistani Air Force (PAF) has acquired a squadron of F-16 multi-role fighter aircraft from Jordan. The early production Block-15 fighter jets will be inducted inducted into the service in March 2014, next month, Pakistan’s TheNews reports. Two Royal Jordanian Air Force F-16s fly alongside a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft while waiting to connect for fuel over Jordan. Photo: US Air Force Of the fighters acquired from the Royal Jordanian Air Force, 12 of the aircraft are single seaters A models and one is a twin-seat F-16B. Jordan has recently acquired 15 similar aircraft – F-16A/B MLU from...

UCK! A smokin’ hot F-16CM from the Air Force’s Viper East demonstration team has you in its sights. The jet performed at a 2011 Florida airshow. (SURESH A. ATAPATTU) The Viper was small, fast, and in your face. his is the story of two brothers, who happen to be airplanes. The older brother, the F-15 Eagle, entered the world fully formed, and his doting parents—the U.S. Air Force—nurtured him and quickly forgave minor transgressions. The younger brother, the F-16, was born prematurely, with no name, and scrambled to catch up. At a rollout ceremony on December 13, 1973, in Fort...

Upgrading military aircraft – fixed wing and rotary – is a common operation performed all over the world. You take an old platform, reinforce the fuselage and wings, install some new systems and it can fly for many more years. But what Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is currently doing with its old Kfir fighter aircraft is an exception. The Kfir (Lion Cub) fighter is a single-seat multitask fighter built by IAI. The aircraft was first built for the Israeli air force (IAF). The first Kfir was delivered to the IAF in 1975, and entered into service in 1976. The fighter...

Washington — Singapore is ready to invest $2.43 billion to modernize its F-16 fighter jets in an arms deal with the United States, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. The Defense Department informed Congress of the planned sale that would involve new radar, navigation systems, missiles and other advanced equipment for Singapore's aging fleet of F-16s. The deal would provide new systems that project a display onto a pilot's helmet visor, allowing the F-16 pilot to aim sensors and weapons where he or she is looking. The deal also would deliver a number of different precision-guided bombs for testing, according to...

Following the traditions of the NATO/ EuroTiger Meet, the Colorado ANG painted this F-16C in dramatic "tiger" markings for the Tiger Meet of the Americas. Aug 2001.Photo by Colorado Air National Guard.

Lockheed Martin has enough orders to keep its F-16 fighter jet production line humming through the third quarter of 2017. They are also pursuing additional orders and upgrades in the Middle East, South America and other markets that would keep the line running through 2020. Around that time, the cost of Lockheed's new F-35 stealth fighter will have dropped so far that it will make more sense for potential customers to procure F-35s rather than F-16s. Last Friday Lockheed Martin marked completion of its 100th F-35 fighter. Lockheed has produced over 4,500 F-16s since the program began in 1975, making...

The U.S. Defense Department has approved a deal under which Britain's BAE Systems would upgrade 134 older KF-16s for South Korea, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress on Monday. In phase 1, the U.S. government and principal contractor BAE Systems will develop plans for upgrading the F-16 C- and D-models, build an avionics systems integration facility and testing stations, begin acquiring long-lead items needed to conduct the upgrades, and perform similar preparatory work. The DSCA values this package of products and services at $200 million. BAE beat out F-16 maker Lockheed Martin Corp to win the South Korean...